English Explanatory Dictionary

pyramid

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An ancient massive construction with a square or rectangular base and four triangular sides meeting in an apex, such as those built as tombs in Egypt or as bases for temples in Mesoamerica.
  2. A construction in the shape of a pyramid, usually with a square or rectangular base.
  3. A solid with triangular lateral faces and a polygonal (often square or rectangular) base.
  4. Any structure or diagram with many members at the bottom and progressively fewer towards the top.
  5. A medullary pyramid, the medial-most bumps on the ventral side of the medulla oblongata
  6. The game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot.
  7. A pyramid scheme.
  8. Alternative letter-case form of Pyramid. (a solitaire card game)
  9. The triangular layout of cards in the game of Pyramid.
  10. An approximately triangular headline consisting of several centered lines of text of increasing length.
verb
  1. To build up or be arranged in the form of a pyramid.
  2. To combine (a series of genes) into a single genotype.
  3. To employ, or take part in, a pyramid scheme.
  4. To engage in pyramid trading.
  5. To increase to or towards a peak.
name
  1. A solitaire card game where the cards are arranged as a triangle (a "pyramid") and the object is to get the cards from the bottom to the top.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɪ.ɹə.mɪd/ en-us-pyramid.ogg /ˈpɪ.rə.mɪɖ/ /ˈprə.mɪɖ/

Word forms

pyramid pyramids piramis pyramis pyramiding pyramided

Etymology

From French pyramide, from Old French piramide, from Latin pȳramis, pȳramidis, from Ancient Greek πῡραμίς (pūramís), possibly from πῡρός (pūrós, “wheat”) + ἀμάω (amáō, “reap”) or from Egyptian pr-m-ws (“height of a pyramid”), from pr (“(one that) comes forth”) + m (“from”) + ws (“height”). Schenkel and K. Lang proposed hypothetical Coptic *ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲙ (*piram) or *ⲫⲣⲁⲙ (*phram) derived from Egyptian mr via metathesis as a source of πῡραμίς (pūramís) while Schenkel also suggested it being the source of Arabic هَرَم (haram) although the latter is considered far-fetched by Takacs.

Related words

Ponzi scheme

Derived words

beeramid bipyramid demipyramid dipyramid earth pyramid ecological pyramid food pyramid Freytag's pyramid Gaussian pyramid hemipyramid human pyramid hyperpyramid inverted pyramid Laplacian pyramid macropyramid nanopyramid oblique pyramid population pyramid pyramidal pyramid billiards pyramid elimia Pyramid Hill pyramid hip roof pyramidic pyramidical pyramid inch pyramidiot pyramidism pyramidist pyramidization pyramidize Pyramid Lake pyramidlike pyramid of doom pyramidoid pyramidologist pyramidology pyramid piano pyramid pool pyramid roof pyramid scheme pyramid seller pyramid selling pyramid sight pyramidwise renal pyramid Russian pyramid square pyramid steerable pyramid stepped pyramid step pyramid triangular pyramid pyramid down pyramid up

Translations

Afrikaans: piramide Albanian: piramidë Arabic: هَرَم Arabic: هرم Armenian: բուրգ Asturian: pirámide Azerbaijani: piramida Azerbaijani: ehram Azerbaijani: firontəpəsi Basque: piramide Belarusian: пірамі́да Bengali: পিরামিড Bulgarian: пирами́да Burmese: ပိရမစ် Catalan: piràmide Chinese Mandarin: 金字塔 Czech: pyramida Danish: pyramide Dutch: piramide Egyptian: U23-m:r-O24 Esperanto: piramido Estonian: püramiid Extremaduran: pirami Finnish: pyramidi French: pyramide Galician: pirámide Georgian: პირამიდა German: Pyramide Greek: πυραμίδα Ancient Greek: πυραμίς Hebrew: פִּירָמִידָה Hindi: पिरमिड Hindi: पिरामिड Hindi: पीरामिड Hindi: अहराम Hungarian: piramis Icelandic: pýramídi Indonesian: piramida Indonesian: piramid Irish: pirimid Italian: piramide Japanese: ピラミッド Japanese: 金字塔 Kazakh: пирамида Korean: 피라미드 Korean: 금자탑 Central Kurdish: ھەرەم Northern Kurdish: ehram Northern Kurdish: pîramîd Kyrgyz: пирамида
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary